Real Life Wednesday: On Adventures in DC.

Hey hey! This past weekend we spent a fun, touristy less than 48 hours in DC and I’m going to bring you along while I yap all about it.

So. I love Washington DC. I have a fascination with all things American history (especially presidents) and get giddy when I’m there. I want to do every touristy thing I possibly can and I’d probably do it every single year and still not be bored. My brother Andy and his girlfriend Mary came with us and the four of us ate our way through the city. We stayed at the Sofitel and the location was perfect for what we wanted to do. We’ve stayed in the Sofitel in NYC before and have liked it. I will say though… a few years ago we stayed at the Mayflower Renaissance in DC and I did like that more.

I took my real life camera but did I use it? Barely. You guys know I hate it. By Friday evening it was stashed in the hotel. So all of these photos are from my iPhone… as usual. Also, let’s discuss footwear for a minute. On my favorites posts and previous instagrams, you guys always ask me if my tieks are worth it and super comfortable. While I love them for everyday life, I’m always hesitant to say that they are “the most comfortable ever!” because they are really my first flats ever. But. How about I walked ALL OVER on Friday, at least around eight hours of walking – in my tieks. By the end of the night my feet were definitely tired but the tieks were so comfortable for walking. I was seriously impressed. I did walk around in the pair that I bought last October – so they are well worn in.

Yeah, so. We walked our faces off and while the temperature hovered in the 50s and 60s, it was overcast and a bit windy. So after being chilly for 24 hours, we ended up renting the city bikes and riding around Saturday afternoon. We saw the monuments, the museums, we attempted to see the national archives but didn’t feel like waiting in line – basically all the touristy things to do in DC.

On Saturday, we did something super fun and had a little private tour of the Supreme Court. I think the general consensus was that it was our favorite part of the trip. Getting to see all the odds and ends of the court and having an awesome history lesson with new friends. We LOVED it. Thank you so much for the tour Melody and Heather!

And now I’m just going to binge watch the crap out of the West Wing again because it’s real life and makes me feel like I’m living it. And probably House of Cards.

Yeah yeah. fun!

BUT. What you really want to know is where we ate. Right?

So let’s get to it. The carbcation of epic proportions.

Friday night we ate at Proof. We loved our cocktails and appetizers, but our meals were mostly just… meh. For apps, we got the whipped goat cheese and tuna tartar. I could house both plates right this minute – they were quite delicious. For our meals, we ended up with the scallops and housemade tagliatelle. They were okay, but nothing that blew our mind. But that beverage was bulliet bourbon, grapefruit juice and honey – and now I must recreate it.

Um… next. I pretty much want to do a post all about cupcakes.

You guys were blowing up my instagram saying we HAD to go to Baked and Wired. One very disturbing bike ride and a fight (three out of the four of us had a meltdown) later, we made it there and just about died. I wanted ALL the things. I was so overwhelmed. Seriously. On Saturday, I bought a few chocolate chip cookies, A UNICORN CUPCAKE (okay, actually it was called “uniporn rainho”) and a red velvet cupcake for Eddie. He promptly ate all of the cookies without me. I promptly ate my cupcake for lunch. After we stopped for water, diet Coke and iced coffee, of course.

That’s like the hangover trio of life.

The four of us loved Baked and Wired so much that we swung by on our way home and bought, um, I think 16 more cupcakes today? HALP ME.

We got six. Andy and Mary got ten. To share with others of course. We need help. Decisions decisions.

I rarely am impressed with cupcakes from any bakery (I find them to be underwhelming (read: dry) almost every single time) but these were to die for. We didn’t make it to any other bakeries after that, FYI.

Dinner on Saturday night was at Oyamel. Otherwise known as the magical place where my husband discovered that he liked guacamole. Cue angels singing.

They make the guac tableside and he dug in. The four of us devoured it within maybe two minutes? We were so hungry. I asked if he would eat guac if I made it at home, to which he responded with, “well, yeah! if you make it fresh.” Um. Okay. How is it possible to NOT make it fresh? I’m going to take him up on that offer this weekend.

So Oyamel was awesome, other than the fact that we had to wait a long ass time for our reservations. The margaritas though. OH MY WORD. See the foam on top of that drink? Instead of serving the the marg with a salted rim, they serve it with salted foam. It might sound odd and even I was skeptical at first because I love a perfect margarita. But these were fabulous. Eddie doesn’t like margaritas, so he order mojitos which came with mint foam.

Just so, so good.

Many of you asked if we had the grasshoppers… which apparently are on the menu but thankfully I overlooked. I’m not brave enough for that. If you know anything about me, I HATE BUGS. Like hate. Have a totally ridiculous irrational fear.

After our guac domination, we ordered the refried beans to start. Fantastic. Then we all ordered a bunch of different tacos, obviously. I went with the pulled pork and chorizo, the wild mushroom and the confit of baby pig. Super good. I’m still dreaming of it.

We definitely enjoyed that over our dinner Friday night.

In other random food news, we HAD to go to Shake Shack because we don’t have one here in Pittsburgh. It’s a must because they have my favorite cheese fries ever and I like the burgers better than Five Guys.And pinkberry, because why not? Pinkberry was sort of an afternoon snack to hold us over until our very late dinner reservation. Tart froyo with strawberries and milk chocolate crunch. Oh hi, I’m dead.

Sadly, we didn’t do any crazy breakfast things. I was more excited about our potential dinners and just can’t do a massive brunch when I’m traveling – and am going to walk all day long and don’t want to hate life. Saturday we quickly ate at the Old Ebbitt Grill (I have nothing good to say about that but I think the others enjoyed their meals) and Sunday we ate at a little bistro in our hotel before taking off.

And that’s that. Super fast and fun. Now I’m starving.

You guys gave me lots of other awesome restaurant ideas which I will keep in my pocket for future use. It’s only three hours away after all. And I hope that if I visit enough, maybe I’ll just BEGIN to morph into Robin Wright vis House of Cards. Totally.

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I’m glad you came here during that brief respite from snow and sub-freezing temperatures! The weather has been EVIL here lately! Next time you come over my way, I can give you some suggestions for some places to eat that aren’t likely to show up on Zagat… but that are filled with knowing locals. :)

BTW, my partner works (literally) across a very tiny street from Baked & Wired. Better him than me!

Hello! I recently started following your blog and it’s now one of my favorite e-mails to receive! I was actually in DC as well this weekend! Next time you go, you HAVE to go to Good Stuff Eatery, the restaurant by Spike Mendelsohn from Top Chef. You may possibly have the best milkshake (Toasted Marshmallow all the way) and burger of your life. :) Thanks for writing and inspiring!

Next time no need to drive all the way to DC…stop in Frederick MD on the way! Volt, Quynns Attic, firestones culinary tavern, Acacia Bistro, just to name a few. All in the heart of historic downtown…not to mention angelcakes! Omg their cupcakes are amazing!

We always make it about the food when traveling, though it is kind of hard to in DC as there is so much to see, great post.

Just an FYI for The next time you come to DC, because it sounds like you will lol, there’s almost always a long line for the archives but it moves fast and it’s definitely worth it. I also second the above commenter’s recommendation that you should check out Goodstuff burgers. I used to work best there and ate lunch there WAY too often!

Sounds like an amazing trip and you look sooo pretty in your photo! You guys are a beautiful couple!

I just found your blog this week and have been hooked on it ever since. I love the way you write.. i find myself laughing and smiling as if we have been longtime friends and you were telling me a story. I am excited to see and follow what you post next. :)

I love Oyamel! We’ve only been there a couple of times, but it’s always super delicious. The guac is amazing. And, one time, my husband ordered freaking grasshopper tacos. GROSS.

so jealous! Was born in DC and lived most of my life there and in MD. Am in St. Petersburg, FL now and so miss DC area. Most of my sons still live in the area. There is so much to do that is free there. You don’t realize until you move to other areas. Glad you enjoyed it.

Oh yay! You were in my home city. DC does have some wonderful eateries and the backdrop is just awesome. Eating a cupcake while looking over the whitehouse lawn is absolutely perfect. Glad to see the weather actually treated you well because it has certainly been miserable this winter.

I went on an adventure this weekend that was filled with wildfowl and trekking across fields. A bit different to yours but we ate cake also and that cake was goood!

You did a great job covering your adventures! DC is a great city. We love living here. My favorite time is after dark when the monuments are lit up. Like someone else said, you visited on the one weekend that the weather has been bearable in months!

WE headed west on a business weekend to The Greenbrier in West Virginia. I was not excited to be heading there rather than somewhere warm like Florida this year. But it is an historic, gorgeous, HUGE place and we had a surprisingly fun time. One bit of advice: Leave the grounds to eat your meals. Even we, who are very used to DC prices, were SHOCKED by their restaurant prices! !!! !!!!! Other than that, it was worth giving it a few days just to have experienced one of the grand resorts from early 20th century.

Glad you enjoyed DC! Love your blog and was so excited to see you in my city!!
If you come back in the winter or heat of summer the lines will be MUCH better at the Archives. Crazy busy season now. Baked and Wired cupcakes are AMAZING. Totally agree with you on Old Ebbitt. Two things to hit up next time you come here – 1. A DC landmark – half smokes at Ben’s Chili Bowl and 2. a GREAT new spot for food and shopping is Union Market. You will LOVE.

Looks like you had a great time! I live in MD and don’t do the touristy thing enough. My boyfriend came into town a couple of months ago and we did it. We ate at Oyamel and wasn’t it awesome?? Just the bright and vibrant atmosphere alone was such an experience. The good food was a bonus lol.

xo,Cortnie

I love DC too. It’s like Disneyland for people who like American History. The picture of you and your hubby is so cute. And those cup cakes look Ah mah zing. I may just have to take the train down there from Jersey to check this place out!

I’m so glad you went to B&W (and not Georgetown Cupcake, which is SO overrated). They’re both within 2 blocks of my office and I don’t go crazy for cupcakes, but I DO love B&W. So, so good. Now you have me thinking of stopping there on the way home tonight.

I love this post! We are driving up to D.C. for my birthday in two weeks, and while I have a plan of what I want to do we were lost about food. Thank you for the ideas and now the cupcakes are a MUST!

It’s always so fascinating to me to see out of towner’s adoration for DC when they visit – I guess living so close by and going so often it’s so different for me (DC is just one big traffic headache to me but I go for the bestie – oh and the food of course duh lol) ! I guess that can be said of any place though, right?! Headed up there next weekend to visit the bestie and curious about this cupcake place you speak of… perhaps I shall be making a visit :) Glad u had a nice trip!

I’ve lived in the D.C. area my entire life (Alexandria, now Arlington) and there are SO many good places to eat…there’s definitely been a big boom of awesome restaurants the last couple of years. Oyamel looks delicious! My recent favorites are:

Red Hen: New, kind of “off the map”. Received many awards and my friends declared it as the best meal they’ve ever had. Unique/interesting food, excellent drinks (Try their orange wine!).

So glad you had a nice time in DC!! Sorry the weather has been so crappy here the last couple days (um, more like months). The cherry blossoms are supposed to come out April 8-12 though if you feel like coming back any time soon!!

We’ve been wanting to take a trip to DC too. It’s about 3 or 4 hours for us (in the other direction). Seems like there are good times to be had. Glad you enjoyed it!

I went to DC in November and funny enough did some of these things also! OMG Can we talk about the perfection that is OYUMEL!?!?!?! Holy moly I’ve never been so enthralled with a meal that I was completely silent. They were still serving brunch when we went so I got the Heuvos over Pork Belly with a margarita AND dear LORD it was life changing! And we grabbed a cupcake from Baked and Wired and it was possible the best cupcake I’ve had in my life. So delicious!